European Jewish Association shocked and appalled by two Brussels schools’ refusal to attend commemoration of Holocaust remembrance because of war in Gaza, calls for Education Minister intervention.

January 9, 2025

“Ignoring history of 6 million murdered Jews and linking Holocaust to Gaza is exactly why the schools must take part…the Holocaust must transcend political opinion especially from educators… This is pandering to the basest of lies. The lie that seeks to draw a similarity with the Holocaust and the War in Gaza. The Minister of Education of Belgium should be intervening,” says Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin

(Brussels 9 January 2025) Two schools in Anderlecht, Brussels are refusing to take part in a ceremony marking the laying of Stolpersteine (memory stones) for Belgian Jews murdered during the Holocaust, stating that “the schools do not wish to impose the children any discussion on the Holocaust  given the current conditions in the Middle-East.”

One of the schools involved removed an Israeli flag that was part of a ‘flags of the world’ event recently according to reports that sought to explain the decision, at the behest of a parent who had complained about the flag in the school playground.

The Brussels based European Jewish Association, that represent hundreds of Jewish Communities across Europe, fights antisemitism and regularly takes delegations of Senior Politicians and influential figures such as Elon Musk, to Auschwitz to witness, to remember and to find solutions to fight against antisemitism.

The Chairman today expressed his shock and anger at the decision stating that such an ignorant approach to what happened is precisely why the two schools must attend.

In a statement today Rabbi Menachem Margolin said,

“At a time of record rises in antisemitism, it is precisely to the next generation that we should be transmitting the warning from history of the greatest crime against humanity committed.

“The Holocaust is beyond politics. Conflating the mass murder of 6 millions Jews with the current conflict with Gaza is shocking and an appaling dereliction of duty on the part of two schools who have a moral, civic and human duty to transmit the reality of the Holocaust to the next generation.

“I believe that this decision has been taken to not offend the parents of a particular group of children from a particular religious background. This is pandering to the basest of lies: the lie that seeks to draw a similarity with the Holocaust and the War in Gaza. The Minister of Education of Belgium should be intervening. We cannot eradicate the truth to please a minority who may think otherwise.”

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Annual conference for European Jewish Leadership FIGHTING BACK FOR OUR FUTURE

We are delighted to announce the commencement of our yearly conference in Amsterdam. This significant event focuses on tackling the concerning and increasing surge of antisemitism within our community.

Through impactful keynote speeches and dynamic panel discussions, we will explore solutions and responses to this troubling trend. The conference serves as a vital rallying call for all those committed to combating discrimination and halting its further advancement.

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The European Jewish Association is a prominent and influential organisation dedicated to representing, advocating for, and fostering the interests of the Jewish community across Europe. Founded on unity, tolerance, and inclusivity principles, the EJA bridges diverse Jewish communities and European societies.

#BringThemHomeNow #NeverAgainIsNow #NotOnMyWatch

Linkedin: @european-jewish-association

Instagram: @ejassociation

Facebook: @ejassociation

SUCCESSES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ANTISEMITISM

It should become a tradition to not only publish major antisemitic slurs at the end of each year. There is now also a possibility to publish successes in the fight against antisemitism.

In 2018, there were a variety of important actions against antisemitism. Summarizing the main ones at the end of the year provides some counterweight to the annual report of the worst antisemitic incidents — regularly increasing in pages — published now for a number of years by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
One important development is the expanding acceptance of the definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition (IHRA). One cannot try to fight antisemitism effectively unless there is a common measure of what it entails. By now the IHRA antisemitism definition had been formally adopted for internal use by the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Scotland, Romania, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania and the formerly Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It has also been accepted by a wide array of others such as universities and towns including the cities of London and Berlin.
A second substantial development was successes in the fight against the BDS movement which aims to delegitimize the State of Israel. Legal measures play an important role in hampering BDS. In November 2018, Kentucky became the 26th American state to pass legislation to ban awarding state contracts to companies that endorse the BDS movement. The governors of all 50 US states have signed a declaration condemning the BDS movement as antithetical to American values. Chile has recently forbidden its municipalities to boycott Israel by aligning themselves with the BDS movement as a reason not to conduct business with Israel. Various municipalities in Spain have also tried to apply BDS to their practices. However, a number of courts have voided these measures, for instance, in Barcelona.
Yet another positive development is the appointment of antisemitism commissioners in Germany. This occurred at the national level but also in a variety of federal states. National commissioner Felix Klein has already addressed many aspects and incidents of antisemitism in Germany. He has, for instance, indicated that he intends to tackle the political distortion of reported statistics of antisemitic acts. Crimes against Jews by unknown perpetrators are registered as having been committed by extreme right-wingers, while attacks on Jews by Muslims are far more numerous than what is recorded. Among the state commissioners, Ludwig Spaenle of Bavaria has initiated a monitoring function that is slated to become operational next year.
The European Commission had already in 2015 appointed Katharina von Schnurbein as the coordinator for combating antisemitism. She has undertaken various initiatives, however has not been given anywhere near adequate resources to fulfill her task in exposing the massive antisemitism among the more than 500 million EU citizens.
A fourth important development is the increasing assurance of the security of synagogues and other Jewish institutions. Switzerland has been extremely negligent in this area. Finally this year, the first Swiss city, Basel, belatedly decided to join this process and assign police officers to guard the synagogue. This is an important precedent and challenge for other towns in the country.
A fifth important development is the publication of additional studies on antisemitism. In December, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) released a report it claims is the largest study on antisemitism ever undertaken. It investigated twelve European Union countries and is titled: “Experiences and Perceptions of Antisemitism.” The study found that the most common antisemitic statement encountered by Jews in Europe is that Israelis behave like Nazis toward the Palestinians. Muslim antisemitism is mentioned as the dominant identified source of harassment of Jews in Europe. It is followed by left-wing antisemitism and right-wing antisemitism. It is a Europe-wide problem that due to poor follow up, most victims of antisemitic incidents do not complain to the authorities.
There are many other incidental or smaller issues of importance. One was a French manifesto against Muslim antisemitism that was signed by 250 Jewish and non-Jewish personalities. This document sums up the main elements of violence and incitement against Jews emanating from parts of this immigrant community. One can only hope next year others will follow in those footsteps and expose what a variety of European governments try to hide or whitewash. Fifteen years too late, French President Emmanuel Macron has formally accepted that the murder of Jewish disk jockey DJ Sebastien Sellam in 2003 by a Muslim neighbor was an antisemitic act.
The Council of the European Union (EU) approved the first declaration of its kind to fight antisemitism and strengthen the security of Jewish communities in Europe. Outgoing US Ambassador Nikki Haley castigated the UN saying, “We will not tolerate a situation that a world body of 198 countries can spend half their time attacking one country: Israel.”
British media such as The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph have exposed the substantial antisemitism in the British Labour Party, which is led by Jeremy Corbyn, a friend of genocidal terrorists, associate of Holocaust deniers, anti-Israel inciter and part-time antisemite.
There are many other meritorious acts against antisemitism by individuals. Alyssa Milano refused to speak at the Women’s March in the US after two of its leaders Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour refused to break ties with the leading US antisemite Louis Farrakhan. Another important development was the firing of extreme anti-Israel inciter Marc Lamont, by CNN.
It should become a tradition to not only publish major antisemitic slurs at the end of each year. There is now also a possibility to publish successes in the fight against antisemitism.
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld is the emeritus chairman of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Journal for the Study of Antisemitism, and the International Leadership Award by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
The article was published in The JPost

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Respuestas inesperadas sobre los mejores países europeos para los judíos – Estudio

(JTA) — El sentimiento antisemita prevalece especialmente en Italia y Hungría, según múltiples encuestas. Pero un índice único en su tipo que combina diferentes medidas de la experiencia judía encontró que también son los mejores países europeos para que vivan los judíos.

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ

El índice, presentado el lunes, se basa en un estudio que combina datos de encuestas e información de políticas para crear una métrica única de calidad de vida para los judíos en los 12 países de la Unión Europea con comunidades judías considerables, según Daniel Staetsky, estadístico de la Institute for Jewish Policy Research, con sede en Londres, que escribió el informe para la Asociación Judía Europea en Bruselas.

Dijo que los resultados pueden desafiar las ideas preconcebidas sobre qué países de la UE son más hospitalarios con los judíos. Por ejemplo, Alemania obtuvo una puntuación alta en lo que respecta a las políticas gubernamentales relacionadas con los judíos. Pero los judíos allí reportan una débil sensación de seguridad, lo que lleva a una puntuación general media.

El índice es principalmente una herramienta “para exigir acciones concretas de los líderes europeos”, dijo el rabino Menachem Margolin, director de la Asociación Judía Europea. “Damos la bienvenida a las declaraciones contra el antisemitismo de los líderes europeos. Pero se necesita algo más que declaraciones”.

La Asociación Judía Europea hará recomendaciones individuales a cada país encuestado, agregó Margolin en el evento de prensa. Fue parte de un evento de dos días patrocinado por múltiples organizaciones judías, incluido el Consistoire en Francia, la Agencia Judía para Israel y el gobierno israelí, sobre cómo las comunidades judías europeas pueden ayudar a la de Ucrania.

Titulado “Europa y los judíos, un índice de país de respeto y tolerancia hacia los judíos”, el estudio otorga a BélgicaPolonia y Francia las puntuaciones más bajas con 60, 66 y 68 puntos sobre 100, respectivamente. Los tres primeros países tienen 79, 76 y 75 puntos, seguidos de Gran Bretaña y Austria (75), Países BajosSueciaAlemania y España (74, 73, 72, 70).

Para elaborar el ranking, Staetsky otorgó calificaciones a cada país encuestado en múltiples temas, incluido el sentido de seguridad judío, las actitudes públicas hacia los judíos y la cantidad de judíos que dijeron que habían experimentado antisemitismo. Las calificaciones se basaron en las principales encuestas de opinión de los últimos años, incluidas las realizadas por la Liga de Acción y Protección, un grupo que monitorea los crímenes de odio contra los judíos en varios países europeos, y la Agencia de Derechos Fundamentales de la Unión Europea.

El estudio combinó esos puntajes con los puntajes que el autor le dio a las políticas gubernamentales de los países, incluida su financiación para las comunidades judías, si habían adoptado una definición de antisemitismo y el estado de la educación sobre el Holocausto y la libertad de culto.

Bajo ese sistema de puntaje, Alemania recibió un puntaje general de 72 a pesar de tener el mejor puntaje (89) en el desempeño del gobierno en temas relacionados con los judíos y un sólido 92 en lo que respecta a la prevalencia del antisemitismo. Pero una puntuación relativamente baja en el sentido de seguridad de los judíos (46) perjudicó su puntuación general, entre otros factores.

En el caso de Hungría, “el puntaje que recibió refleja la realidad sobre el terreno”, según Shlomo Koves, jefe del grupo paraguas de comunidades judías en Hungría EMIH, afiliado a Chabad. “Los judíos pueden caminar por aquí, ir a la sinagoga, sin el menor temor al acoso”, dijo.

Pero la prevalencia de sentimientos antisemitas en la sociedad húngara (una encuesta de la Liga Antidifamación de 2015 encontró que alrededor del 30% de la población los tiene) “muestra que también hay trabajo por hacer aquí, en educación y divulgación”, dijo Koves.

https://www.enlacejudio.com/2022/06/21/respuestas-inesperadas-sobre-los-mejores-paises-europeos-para-los-judios-estudio/amp/

UEFA’s Failure to Condemn ‘Free Palestine’ Banner at PSG Match Emboldens Antisemitic Hostility, Endangers Jewish Communities Across Europe

It is with alarm that I see UEFA does not deem the enormous ‘Free Palestine’ Banner unfurled at the Paris Saint Germain – Athletico Madrid Champions league match as, acoording to a spokesperson of your organisation as neither insulting or provocative. I suggest to you that the spokesperson in question is either visually or is deliberately ignoring the facts.

The Banner included the ‘I’ of Palestine outlined as the state of Israel but entirely covered by the Palestinian keffiyeh. In short it denies Israel’s existence, one of the most common antisemitic tropes that exist today.

The European Jewish Association, representing hundreds of Jewish Communities across the continent, is heavily engaged in the fight against antisemitism, whose levels have exploded since October 7th , the largest pogrom against Jews anywhere since the Second World War.

Mr President, I will be blunt. If someone unfurled a huge banner with Ukraine under a Russian Flag would it be insulting or provocative? Or how about Slovenia under an Italian or Austrian Flag? You of course know the answer.

Denying Israel’s right to exist, particularly in the mouth of an ongoing war and after the largest pogrom against Jews since the Second World War is not only grossly insulting to millions of Jewish and Israeli football fans worldwide, but it is openly antisemitic and hostile.

You must act strongly today and penalise the Club. If you will not, others will feel emboldened to do likewise. Jewish communities everywhere, but especially in Europe, are already living under daily threats to their lives from the hate that these banners espouse. The banner is not a call for liberation Mr President. It is a call for Jewish eradication.

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